The next morning.
The yard before the shack looked as though a war had swept through it.
Cleanly picked meat bones, an empty rice pot, and alcohol bottles.
They were the remnants proving last night's madness.
"Ughhh..."
Manseok rose with a disheveled face. His swollen cheeks made him look like a full moon.
But his expression was that of a man who possessed the whole world.
"Big Brother, good morning! I ate so well yesterday!"
"Good. Is your stomach all right?"
"Perfect! I feel overflowing with meat power!"
Manseok punched the air again and again, showing off his strength.
Protein and fat really did change everything, even their complexion.
Chilbok sat with a serious expression, holding the ledger.
"Big Brother... we spent seven silver taels in a single day yesterday."
Chilbok's voice trembled.
The price of clothes, shoes, meat, and other expenses.
In one day, we had burned through a year's living expenses for an ordinary family of four.
"We have one hundred forty-two silver taels and thirty hundredths of a tael in copper cash left."
"That's still a lot."
I answered carelessly, putting a toothbrush made from a chewed willow branch into my mouth.
"A lot? We have to save it! With this money, we could buy several rice-field plots..."
"Chilbok."
After rinsing my mouth, I looked at him seriously.
"Money is shit."
"Pardon? Shit again?"
"That's right. If you pile it up, it only stinks and has no use. Spread it over a field, and it becomes fertilizer that grows crops. Money is the same. You have to spread it through the world so that something bigger comes back."
I stood and stretched.
CRACK.
The sound of my joints setting echoed out.
"Today is the day we spread that fertilizer. Let's go to the Village Chief's house."
Village Chief Kim had been pacing around his yard since morning.
He had lost sleep because he had been carefully savoring the Great Peace Wine Choi San had given him. His eyes were hollow, but a smile hung from his lips.
"Oh, Young Master! You've come!"
The Village Chief welcomed us eagerly.
"Village Chief. I came because I have a favor to ask."
"Just say the word. Thanks to you, Young Master, my mouth has been living in luxury."
"I need people."
"People? Do you mean workers?"
"Yes. I'm going to turn over this entire marshland. My two family members aren't nearly enough, so gather some of the village's strong men for me."
The Village Chief nodded.
It was the barley famine. The busy farming season was still far away, and most homes had exhausted their winter food stores.
There were countless people starving without work, so finding workers would not be difficult.
"How many do you need?"
"Twenty to start. Men who are strong and good with shovels. And if there are any carpenters or plasterers with skill, that would be even better."
"Twenty? You're employing quite a lot. How much are you planning to pay?"
Money was the key.
The usual country daily wage was about one-tenth of a tael. Even then, cash payment was rare. The custom was to pay in barley or mixed grains.
"I'll pay the going rate. One-tenth of a tael per day. One silver tael for ten days of work."
"Hmm... one-tenth of a tael..."
The Village Chief stroked his beard.
It was not a bad offer.
But it was not tempting enough to make people leap at it either. Marshland work was difficult. Spending an entire day sinking into mud and hauling sludge for only one-tenth of a tael would wear down the body.
Besides, people were weak from hunger right now. Without strength, they could not work.
"Young Master, one-tenth of a tael is a fair wage, but... everyone has been eating only grass porridge lately, so they have no energy. I don't know if they'll endure work in such harsh marshland."
The Village Chief was indirectly expressing his refusal.
I grinned.
"That's why I'll add one more option."
"An option? What does that mean?"
"Lunch provided."
"Come now, everyone provides lunch. You'll give them some rice cakes or rice balls, I suppose."
"No."
I looked the Village Chief straight in the eyes.
"White rice and beef-and-radish soup. Unlimited refills."
"......Pardon?"
The Village Chief's eyes became as wide as saucers.
"W-What did you say you'll give them?"
"White rice and beef-and-radish soup. Tell them the soup will be full of big chunks of beef, and they'll be served until their bellies burst."
For a moment, the Village Chief could not speak.
What time was this? Even nobles were reducing the number of side dishes because of the famine.
Yet I was saying I would give workers white rice and beef soup for lunch?
With unlimited refills?
"Y-Young Master... are you serious? You aren't joking?"
"Have you ever seen me lie to you, Village Chief?"
"Good heavens..."
The Village Chief rubbed his dry face.
"If that's true... not twenty people, but the entire village will come running."
"That would be even better. I'll take workers in order of arrival, so send only the strongest men."
I smiled and added.
"Oh, and when you spread the word, say this exactly: even the Village Chief approves of Choi San's table."
Two hours later.
At the entrance to the marshland.
"Hey! Is it true? They're really serving beef soup?"
"I told you the Village Chief said so! They said the smell of grilling meat from that house filled the place yesterday!"
"Isn't that a lie? One-tenth of a tael is already generous, and they're giving meat too?"
The village was in an uproar.
Strong men carrying shovels and pickaxes gathered like clouds.
There were easily fifty people for twenty positions.
Among them were thin old men and boys still too young. Everyone had hollow eyes and bellies pressed against their backs from hunger.
I stood atop a tall rock at the entrance to the marshland.
Beside me, Manseok stood firm like a goblin.
"All right! Quiet down!"
When Manseok shouted, the murmuring subsided.
"Did you all come here to work?"
When I asked, answers burst out from all sides.
"That's right! Is it true you're giving food?"
"Are we really getting beef soup?"
Everyone was more interested in food than money. One-tenth of a tael could wait. The beggar in their stomachs was screaming right now.
"It's true. But it isn't free. Where is there free food in this world?"
I pointed at the rice sacks and cauldrons piled behind me.
Chilbok lifted a cauldron lid to show them.
Steaming white rice.
And in the cauldron beside it, red beef soup with fat floating on top.
"Krrrgh..."
Gulp.
The sound of people swallowing rippled through the crowd like waves.
Some people even looked ready to lose their minds and rush forward.
"Freeze."
Manseok slammed his club against the ground.
THUD.
The earth shook.
At the killing intent in his eyes, people hesitated.
"If you want to eat this food, you have to work. And work very hard."
I pointed toward the marshland.
"Today's job is drainage-canal construction. You have to enter that filthy mud, carve a path, and drain the water. Leeches will cling to you, and your feet will sink deep. It's hard work. Can you do it?"
"We can!"
"Just give us the work!"
"I'm strong as an ox!"
"Good. But I won't take just anyone. The strong and skilled get priority."
I began selecting people.
"You, come here. Lift that rice sack. It weighs eighty kilograms."
The young man I pointed to groaned as he lifted the rice sack.
Accepted.
"And you? You're a carpenter? I'll show you a wooden board over there. Saw through it."
A middle-aged man showed considerable skill.
Accepted.
That was how I selected twenty elite workers.
Those chosen cheered, while the rejected stood around with expressions as though they had lost their country.
"Those who weren't selected should go home. I may select more tomorrow."
I sent them away coldly.
This was not a charity project.
It was a business where I had to use my money as efficiently as possible to produce the greatest result.
"Start work!"
The morning shift began.
The work was simple, but painful.
It was a massive undertaking: find the lowest part of the marshland, dig deep furrows, create channels, and drain the water pooled in the swamp toward the river.
"Heave! Heave!"
The workers entered the mud and began digging.
Mud rose to their knees. Every time they tried to pull up a foot, they had to use every muscle in their bodies.
Rotten reed roots were tangled together, making it difficult even to drive in shovels.
"Good grief, my back..."
"This isn't a joke..."
After about an hour, cries of suffering rose from all around.
Their strength had quickly run out because they were hungry.
The pace noticeably slowed. I could even see people taking breaks and slacking off.
'This won't do.'
I signaled to Chilbok.
"Get it ready."
"Yes, Big Brother!"
Chilbok lit the fire beneath the hearth.
Lunchtime was still far away, but we began the scent attack.
SIZZLE.
The smell of beef frying in sesame oil drifted on the wind toward the marshland.
Once we added sliced radish and water and began boiling it, the rich, deep aroma of beef-and-radish soup covered the worksite.
"Sniff... What is that smell?"
"Wow... This is driving me crazy."
The workers flared their nostrils.
The hands holding shovels paused.
"Hey! Who stopped working? You don't want to eat?"
Manseok shouted like a foreman.
"I-I have to eat, so I have to work!"
Something remarkable happened.
The people who had been drooping from exhaustion suddenly began shoveling like mad.
The smell of food had pressed the accelerator.
With the certain reward of meat shimmering before their eyes, human potential exploded.
"Just dig a little farther! If we reach there, we eat!"
They encouraged one another as they hauled away mud.
The morning's workload exceeded our expectations.
"Lunch! Let's eat lunch!"
As soon as the sun stood high in the sky, Manseok rang a pot as a bell.
"Woooow!"
The mud-covered workers climbed up onto the embankment.
Everyone's gaze was fixed on the cauldrons.
"Form a line! If you cut in, you won't even get broth!"
It was time to serve food.
I filled bowls with a ladle.
Half broth, half meat.
Big pieces of radish and thick cuts of beef hind leg filled each bowl.
Fat floated on top. To starving people, that fat was medicine.
"Here. Eat plenty."
"T-Thank you, Sir!"
One worker accepted his bowl with trembling hands.
Before he had even found a place to sit, he slurped down the broth.
"Kraaaah..."
The hot broth traveled down his empty stomach.
Salty soy sauce flavor and the savory taste of meat.
"This... this is beef soup..."
With tears in his eyes, he mixed rice into the broth.
The white rice absorbed the soup and swelled plumply.
He scooped up a huge spoonful and put it in his mouth.
Chew, chew.
It was on a completely different level from tough barley rice or grass porridge.
After barely a few chews, it slipped down like honey.
"Delicious... It's really delicious..."
All that could be heard from every direction was the sound of people eating and exclamations.
No one spoke.
They focused only on eating.
It took less than five minutes to empty a bowl.
"Um... Sir, could I possibly have more..."
One quick-witted young man held out his empty bowl.
"Of course. I said you could keep eating."
When I filled his bowl generously with meat, joy spread across his face.
"Long live Sir Choi San!"
The other workers who saw it rushed to line up.
Two bowls. Three bowls.
It was more than they would normally be able to eat when full, but they forced it down as though beggars lived in their stomachs.
The fear that they might not be able to eat again tomorrow made them overeat.
The meal ended.
Everyone lay on the ground, rubbing their bellies.
Color had returned to their faces, and life had returned to their eyes.
To them, I probably looked like a savior now.
"All right, if you've eaten well, it's time to earn your meal."
When I clapped my hands, the workers sprang up.
"Let's go! This afternoon, we'll dig all the way to the end!"
"Now that I have rice strength, I've got energy to spare!"
The afternoon work was nothing like the morning.
The pace was more than twice as fast.
The drainage canal stretched farther and farther.
As the pooled water began to drain, black soil was revealed.
I stood on the embankment and watched the scene.
"Big Brother, I calculated it."
Chilbok came over.
"A lot of rice and meat went into the meals, but when I look at how quickly the workers are working... it's actually more profitable than hiring them for one-tenth of a tael alone."
"That's called an efficiency wage."
"Effi... what?"
"One man with a full belly is more frightening than ten hungry men."
It was a fact proven even in modern management.
Appropriate compensation maximized productivity.
And in Goryeo, where hunger was everyday life, unlimited meat refills were a stronger incentive than anything else.
"Tomorrow, more people will come once they hear the rumor. We have to pick out the real craftsmen among them."
"Craftsmen?"
"Right. We can't keep digging dirt forever. We have to build houses, expand warehouses, and put up fences."
I pointed at the black earth that had been uncovered.
"Because I'm going to build my kingdom here."
***
That evening.
It was time to settle the daily wages.
"Good work. Here, one-tenth of a tael each."
I placed one-tenth of a tael in copper cash into each worker's hand.
Many employers delayed payment or withheld wages, so same-day cash payment moved the workers.
"Sir, may we come again tomorrow?"
"One of my friends is good with stone. Can I bring him?"
"Bring them all. Any man who works well is welcome."
The workers bowed at a ninety-degree angle and returned home.
Their backs looked much prouder than they had that morning.
Because of the copper cash in their clothes and the meat in their bellies.
After everyone had left, silence returned to the marshland.
But it was no longer the rotten, foul-smelling marshland of yesterday.
Water poured out along the long drainage canal.
"Big Brother."
Manseok came over.
"What?"
"That man isn't leaving."
Manseok pointed toward a middle-aged man lingering near the shack.
It was the carpenter whose sawing I had tested earlier.
His name had been... Mr. Gong, perhaps.
"What is it? Was the money not enough?"
When I approached and asked, Mr. Gong lowered his head awkwardly.
"No, sir. The money is more than enough."
"Then why are you still here?"
"Well... I used to be a carpenter building houses, but the famine cut off all the work, so I have been idle."
Mr. Gong continued while watching my reaction.
"While I worked earlier, I saw that your methods of building embankments and digging waterways were anything but ordinary. Do you perhaps... plan to build houses as well?"
As expected, craftsmen recognized skill.
I had designed the drainage canal by applying my knowledge of modern civil engineering, and he seemed to have noticed.
"I do. A very large, sturdy house."
"Then... could you employ me? I want to swing a hammer, not a shovel."
Mr. Gong looked at me earnestly.
The instinct of a craftsman who wanted to use his skill instead of doing simple labor.
And the certainty that this household would not let him starve.
I smiled.
The talent I had been waiting for had come to me on his own feet.
"Good. I was just in need of a master carpenter."
I took Mr. Gong's hand.
It was a rough, sturdy hand.
"Come early tomorrow morning. I'll show you something very interesting."
"Interesting... what?"
"A blueprint for a house the world has never seen. A house with a blazing heated-floor system and no drafts."
Mr. Gong's eyes shone with curiosity.
The moonlight shone across the marshland.
Well-fed workers, secured labor, and a skilled craftsman.
The puzzle pieces were falling into place one by one.
Chilbok yawned beside me.
"Big Brother, let's sleep now. Tomorrow will be another war."
"Right. Let's sleep."
As I entered the shack, I thought.
A single drop of beef soup I had spread today would return tomorrow as a massive wall.
The strength of a full meal was more frightening than money.
With that strength, I would turn this marshland into the greatest paradise in Goryeo.